People with mental illness were hitherto considered "non-persons", lacking recognition before the law, on any life dimension. The macro-environment within which the mental healthcare system, supported by the Mental Health Act 1987, still works is that of custodial law. However, in 2007, the government signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which shifts the policy gaze away from a medical model to a more encompassing social paradigm, where long-term impairment - physical, mental, sensory, or intellectual - combined with social barriers is understood to create disability. This paper critically analyses the provisions of the new Mental Health Bill, particularly on the question of patient consent, in light of the ratified convention.
